Gaza: War Of Bullets Now A War Of Words

(CBS/AP)  After days of intense fighting, Hamas now controls the entire Gaza Strip — a change in the political landscape with broad, but still unclear implications for the eventual success of any unity government in the Palestinian territories, as well as for peace with Israel.

Relative calm appeared to return to Gaza on Friday, as Hamas announced that all Fatah prisoners taken in the last five days of fighting would be granted amnesty and released.

But the violence gave way quickly to a political war of words between Islamic Hamas and the Western-backed Palestinian president and Fatah party leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Trying to assert his power after Hamas' swift takeover of the Gaza Strip, Abbas fired Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, and named Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, an independent, to replace him.

But whatever power Abbas once wielded in Gaza disappeared with the collapse of his forces there. Haniyeh brushed off Abbas' decision to fire him, calling it "hasty" and refusing to leave office. The situation was "not suitable for unilateral decisions," Haniyeh said.

"The era of justice and Islamic rule has arrived," Hamas spokesman Islam Shahawan announced.

In the short term, at least, for the embattled Gazans trapped in the middle of the violent political power-grab, Friday brought some hope of life without crossfire.

CBS News correspondent Richard Roth reports Hamas, whose fighters only Thursday were sacking government offices and allowing looters to carry off the spoils, now says it's determined to impose order.

Traffic was back on the streets and few armed men were visible, in contrast to the running battles of the past few days.

Abbas announced that the new Palestinian government would be sworn in Friday evening, but soon postponed the ceremony without giving any further explanation.

The new government will replace the now defunct Hamas-Fatah coalition formed just three months ago.

(CBS)

Abbas' decrees won't change the reality that Hamas now controls the Gaza Strip, but might enable Fatah to consolidate its control over the West Bank, and could pave the way for two separate Palestinian governments.

Because Fatah has recognized Israel's right to exist and signed on to past peace agreements, the international community's boycott of the Palestinian territories in the wake of Hamas' electoral successes may no longer apply to the West Bank — just to Gaza. Some 2 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, while 1.4 million reside in Gaza.

CBS News Mideast analyst Michael Oren called Hamas' Gaza takeover, "a historic and horrific event ... The creation of a terrorist mini-state de-facto on the Mediterranean, with ramifications for the entire region."

Oren said, beyond the immediate possibility of local consequences — namely the threat of violence spilling over into the West Bank — other countries in the region are watching the situation "with tremendous trepidation."

Shock waves from the battle could reach "through Jordan, into Iraq, where the insurgency will be emboldened by the Hamas victory," Oren said, adding that Iran, one of Hamas' key supporters, will also have relished the victory over a Western-backed faction in the Mideast.

As far as Washington is concerned, the U.S. vision of a two-state solution to the Mideast conflict is now looking much different than planned, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page »

[victoriarum]

I was always taught, you have no reason to hide your face when you are doing something you are proud of it.

Pray for peace, God Bless Each of You.

Palestinians fighting Palestinians. Hamas does not want peace, now or ever. If they made peace, they would lose all their power and prestige. Yasser Arafat rejected peace for the same reason.

[griezz]

So there is already speculation about American involvement in the Occupied Territories, eh? How on Earth can it be expected that U.S. involvement would improve things instead of making them worse? The presence of U.S. troops certainly hasn't made Iraq or Afghanistan any better off.

[radiob-2009]

yes they sacked offices killed people without cause or reason and cannot be defended.

[xzavierbrown]

I guess this is one violence in Middle East that the UN/EU and American Liberals agreed with. The Silence and Inaction confirmed that. now are we crystal on how liberal incompetence seems to enbolden terrorism?

[closethippy]

As a Palestinian I find it amazing how melodramatic the news media gets whenever something happens with Hamas.
I remember when the wheelchair bound leader of Hamas was blown to pieces by an Israeli missile. The local radio talk shows were talking about the event as if a new era had dawn upon us, a new era that will be fraught with danger. People were calling expressing all kinds of fears, and prejudices, about Palestinians.
And I'm thinking to myself, "Gee, it's just an old man in a wheel chair. What's the freaking big deal, guys?!"
And now look at the article above, "a historic and horrific event", "creation of terrorist mini-state", and so on.
What ***, man. The flare for drama Americans have is embarrasing to watch and at times madenning. It's really upsetting to see how the US makes the biggest deal out of nothing. In the case of Iraq's WMDs, literally nothing.
How can you go on scaring yourselves like that? What purpose does it serve? Can't you see how you get yourselves and everyone else in trouble?
The mistake Abbas made is that unlike Arafat he was unwilling to work with militant groups like Hamas.
This would not have happened and it never happened under Arafat because the man knew how to deal with these groups.
Abbas presides over a very corrupt party and Hamas let him know that. It's not the end of the world, or whatever you want to think to scare yourselves.
You want things to get better? END THE FREAKING OCCUPATION. Just for once, do it!!!

[closethippy]

As a Palestinian I find it amazing how melodramatic the news media gets whenever something happens with Hamas.
I remember when the wheelchair bound leader of Hamas was blown to pieces by an Israeli missile. The local radio talk shows were talking about the event as if a new era had dawn upon us, a new era that will be fraught with danger. People were calling expressing all kinds of fears, and prejudices, about Palestinians.
And I'm thinking to myself, "Gee, it's just an old man in a wheel chair. What's the freaking big deal, guys?!"
And now look at the article above, "a historic and horrific event", "creation of terrorist mini-state", and so on.
What ***, man. The flare for drama Americans have is embarrasing to watch and at times madenning. It's really upsetting to see how the US makes the biggest deal out of nothing. In the case of Iraq's WMDs, literally nothing.
How can you go on scaring yourselves like that? What purpose does it serve? Can't you see how you get yourselves and everyone else in trouble?
The mistake Abbas made is that unlike Arafat he was unwilling to work with militant groups like Hamas.
This would not have happened and it never happened under Arafat because the man knew how to deal with these groups.
Abbas presides over a very corrupt party and Hamas let him know that. It's not the end of the world, or whatever you want to think to scare yourselves.
You want things to get better? END THE FREAKING OCCUPATION. Just for once, do it!!!

[closethippy]

As a Palestinian I find it amazing how melodramatic the news media, in fact the entire nation of the US, gets whenever something happens with Hamas.
I remember when the wheelchair bound leader of Hamas was blown to pieces by an Israeli missile. The local radio talk shows were talking about the event as if a new era had dawn upon us, a new era that will be fraught with danger. People were calling expressing all kinds of fears, and prejudices, about Palestinians.
And I'm thinking to myself, "Gee, it's just an old man in a wheel chair. What's the freaking big deal, guys?!"
And now look at the article above, "a historic and horrific event", "creation of terrorist mini-state", and so on.
What ***, man. The flare for drama Americans have is embarrasing to watch and at times madenning. It's really upsetting to see how the US makes the biggest deal out of nothing. In the case of Iraq's WMDs, literally nothing.
How can you go on scaring yourselves like that? What purpose does it serve? Can't you see how you get yourselves and everyone else in trouble?
The mistake Abbas made is that unlike Arafat he was unwilling to work with militant groups like Hamas.
This would not have happened and it never happened under Arafat because the man knew how to deal with these groups.
Abbas presides over a very corrupt party and Hamas let him know that. It's not the end of the world, or whatever you want to think to scare yourselves.

[luigi999-2009]

Does not Hamas have a clue to how utterly STUPID they look with a group of their terrorists sitting in the president's office with rifles and face masks?

Clueless idiots.

Their image was horrible to begin with and with Gaza it only reinforces the world's belief that Hamas is nothing more that a criminal band of lunatic street thugs.

Hope Israel pulls the plug on them fast.

[luigi999-2009]

Does not Hamas realize how utterly STUPID they look with their terrorists sitting in the president's office with rifles and masks on their faces?

This is the image Hamas wants to portray? An image of dingbat criminals who look more like gang members than a legitimate political entity.

Good job, Hamas! You just reinforced your image of that of a bunch of mindless street thugs. Hope Israel pulls the plug on you soon.